


Call Me Your Friend

by MsFaust



Series: Inky Tales [170]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, Near Death, Toons and monsters are good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 08:58:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15838014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsFaust/pseuds/MsFaust
Summary: Life hasn't been easy in the studio since Joey's death. Fortunately, Norman's here to help.





	Call Me Your Friend

Norman still wasn't sure what he was doing back at the old studio. Admittedly, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious to see what Joey wanted, but Wally, Sammy, Susie, Allison, and Thomas had all torn up their invitations, and both Shawn and Lacie had said they would do the same if they got one. Given what kind of boss Joey had been, he couldn't blame any of them.

As he entered the music department, he heard a loud crashing noise coming from the projector booth. Wondering what the source of the noise was, he approached, but saw no one there. He did, however, see several Bendy cutouts down below.

"Don't remember seeing those there."

He leaned closer to get a better look, only to feel something dripping on his head. Looking behind him, he saw a slender form resembling Bendy standing there, fat drops of ink falling from its body.

Terrified, he turned and fled, only for the creature to chase him through the halls and down the stairwell leading to the toy department. He barely made it out of the stairwell when he felt a sudden stab of pain in his chest.

Of all the times for my damn heart condition to act up.

Clutching his heart, he fell to the floor, barely able to breathe. Everything was spinning, and he couldn't think straight. The last thing he saw before all went black was a humanoid female figure leaning over him.

(BATIM)

It took Norman a while to regain consciousness. Once he did, however, he realized there was an odd feeling in his chest.

"Don't sit up just yet."

Slightly turning his head to the side, he caught a glimpse of a dark-haired woman with what looked like horns and a halo protruding from her head. For a moment, he wondered if she was Susie or Allison wearing some sort of costume, but then he remembered they'd both sworn never to go back after the whole Alice Angel debacle.

"Who...?" he asked weakly.

As the woman turned to him, he saw the left side of her face was scarred, exposing part of her jaw, and one eye was black and swollen, for lack of a better word.

"Norman, right?" she inquired. "You had a pretty close call back there. Fortunately for you, there's plenty of filming equipment lying around."

She reached over and carefully removed the cloth over his chest. Looking down, Norman tried not to jolt upright upon seeing the speaker embedded in his chest.

"That one's just temporary," she said. "I finished the new one while you were out. Now lie back so I can switch them out."

"Why is it in there in the first place?" he asked, trying to stay calm. "And who are you, anyway? I know you ain't Susie or Allison."

"Remember how Joey had two designs for Alice?" Gingerly, she slid her fingers into the space in his chest and extracted part of a wire. "I was based on the first draft, the one Susie voiced. Since I didn't come out right, Joey made a second attempt. We call her Allison Angel, because she was based on the second design--the one Allison Pendle voiced. Lucky for me, Joey kept us both."

"So you're supposed to be Alice Angel, then?"

"Call me Malice," she answered. "Oh, and as for the speaker..."

She paused briefly, apparently thinking about how to explain. "It's something like a pacemaker--keeps that heart problem under control. Believe me, it's a good thing Joey never got rid of everyone's medical files, or I wouldn't have known about it."

"What happened to Joey?" Norman asked.

For a moment, Malice said nothing, instead concentrating on putting the new speaker in.

"Is he...dead?"

Malice nodded solemnly. "He was planning to invite you all back to meet us, but he...passed...before he could send them. Bendy still wanted to meet you guys, though--he even suggested we put on a little show for you. Probably would have scared you to death though, never mind all the other creations of the Ink Machine."

"What other creations?"

(BATIM)

As it turned out, the Ink Machine had gone haywire after Joey's death, spawning what Malice called Searchers as well as feral clones of Boris and the Butcher Gang--the latter were more troublesome than the former. In addition, there was also something down in the amusement park storage warehouse that Joey hadn't wanted to talk about. Norman suspected it had something to do with Bertrum Piedmont, as the two men had a very loud argument about why the park designer had been thrown out.

"Sounds like you got a lot on your hands," Norman remarked, examining some of the various devices Malice had been making from old equipment. "I'm actually wondering if maybe I should stay and help you out. Only problem is, I ain't exactly a spring chicken no more."

"I think I can help with that," Malice offered. "That is, if you're interested."

Norman raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

Picking up a projector, she turned it upside down, revealing it had been hollowed out. "Well, to start with, there's this..."


End file.
